Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition Review

The prettiest version of Capcom's exemplary fighter.

Those who play video games exclusively on PC may miss out on new fighting titles like Mortal Kombat and Marvel vs. Capcom 3, but at least Capcom still cares enough to give its flagship fighting series to the mouse and keyboard crowd. The base version of Street Fighter IV showed up on PC in July of 2009. Since then, a few different versions of Street Fighter IV have been pushed out to consoles like Super Street Fighter IV and downloadable updates, and with the PC Arcade Edition you'll find them all combined into one package.

This fully updated version contains the full roster of 39, which includes the original 25 fighters, the 10 added in Super Street Fighter IV, and the four included in the Arcade Edition. That means you'll have access to classics like Ken and Ryu, Super newcomers like the slippery Hakan and nimble Juri, as well as current Arcade version competitive favorites Yun and Yang. They're all unlocked from the beginning, and all can be played through the irritating Arcade mode, complete with entirely disposable cinematic story bookends and a cheap end boss. Really the only reason to play offline against computer-controlled opponents is to train for live competition, either offline in the versus mode or online.

Compared to the original Street Fighter IV, there aren't any major changes to the fighting system in the Arcade Edition, though there are plenty of minor tweaks. Each fighter gets two Ultras (as opposed to one in the original Street Fighter IV), so if you never checked out the Super version on consoles, it's certainly an interesting addition. Some Ultras function in dramatically different ways. Zangief's Siberian Blizzard, for example, initiates a devastating grapple in mid-air, making it worth playing with each character and testing out all the additions to find new favorites.

For the rest, the fighting system remains fast and flexible. Executing special moves is still based on the age-old quarter, half-circle and charge combinations, which should be easy enough for most players to handle. The hard part is combining them all together into combos, getting the timing right to counter attacks, and learning the intricacies of the Focus Attack system that, when used properly, can absorb hits and send your opponents crumpling to the ground, vulnerable to follow-up attacks. While the command inputs are simple to learn, there's a dizzying amount of depth to Street Fighter's gameplay, from triggering EX modifiers on special moves to Focus canceling, making this one of the best fighting games on the market.

The rest of the changes in the Arcade Edition mostly have to do with balance adjustments that affect each fighter's relative effectiveness. While changes like hit box adjustments to normal attacks, reductions to something like Rufus' Big Bang Typhoon Ultra, and tweaks to the frames of Fei Long's EX Rekka Ken punches might seem minor at a glance, they can actually have significant side-effects for the serious Street Fighter crowd. Whether or not you really care about these changes comes down to your level of commitment to learning the game and mastering the move sets of your favorite characters. If you never devoted any time to studying these details, it's unlikely you'll notice much of a difference.

What's slightly disappointing about this Arcade Edition is that it doesn't give you the option to swap back to the Super rule set and 36 fighter roster. I point this out because if you download the Arcade Edition on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 as an upgrade to Super Street Fighter IV, you're given the ability to swap back and forth between Super and Arcade sets. Any serious competitor is going to want the most up-to-date experience so it's not that big a deal, but if you'd rather take on the online field without the presence of Yun, Yang, Oni and Evil Ryu, you can't do it in the PC version.

What you can do is jump into an online suite -- which uses Games for Windows Live -- that's far more developed than that of the original Street Fighter IV. The entire online ranking system has been revamped and makes a lot more sense now, utilizing two persistent point systems that no longer punish you for experimentation. You get double-blind character selection in online ranked matches, and a wealth of new modes. This includes tournaments for four or eight players, team battles, as well as an endless battle mode that successfully mimics the experience of swapping spots and talking trash around an arcade machine. Unless you're an expert, expect to get your teeth kicked in for a while. With patience and a willingness to learn, there's a huge potential for competitive entertainment.

Part of that willingness should be focused on checking out the replay channel, which in the Arcade Edition is as robust as it's ever been. Though the Arcade Edition offers a training mode and trial challenges for all fighters but the four introduced in Arcade, one of the best ways to learn is to watch talented competitors. YouTube is always a popular option, but Capcom's done a good job making it easy to view, sort, and save replays in-game so you can check out what you're missing. There's even a limited Twitter-like follow function so you can easily snag replays from fighters on top of the leaderboards. It may seem like like throwaway fluff to a casual fan of fighting games, but features like these are extremely helpful if you're looking to improve your skills.

For controlling all the action, you're definitely going to want a gamepad or fight stick. The keyboard is very much an acquired taste for controlling a fighting game like this. I was using a MadCatz Arcade FightStick Tournament Edition, which worked as soon as I plugged it in, and had success with an Xbox 360 controller. Capcom is working on fixes to some of the device recognition issues some seem to be having, which affected me as well as others. Two keyboards I've tried to use with the game don't seem to be fully functional, meaning a controller is essentially a requirement for even getting through the menus. The controls are of course configurable, so you're free to adjust button mapping as you see fit.

PC gamers should be happy to see that Capcom has included a number of options for tweaking the visuals. Street Fighter IV on consoles is already a great looking game, and thanks to options for altering motion blur, shadows, anti-aliasing and filtering, in addition to multiple resolution options, the PC Arcade Edition is the most visually impressive version provided you have the hardware to run it.

While playing this version of Street Fighter IV online I did experience lag from time to time. It's easy enough to find another proper match afterward, but it's still an irritating reality of playing online that's especially disruptive in competitive fighting games considering the split-second timing required to excel. It's not a killer -- the online matching system most definitely works -- but considering how disorienting even a hitch can be, the lag is an annoyance when it pops up.

The Verdict

Considering Super Street Fighter IV was never released on PC, the additions offered in the Arcade Edition are substantial. The roster is expanded from 25 to 39, there is a greatly increased number of modes for online play, and the replay channel is a drastic improvement over what was offered in the original Street Fighter IV. It's a fighting game with a huge amount of depth, featuring some of the most finely tuned, flexible combat mechanics you'll find. If you're not a hardcore fighting game fan but always wanted to check a game out, Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition is an excellent choice. And for any serious fighting game fan who mysteriously hasn't already purchased the console version, this should not be passed up.